Fitch Affirms DuPont's IDR at 'A'; Short-Term Debt at 'F1'; Outlook Stable.

CHICAGO -- Fitch has affirmed the ratings of E.I Dupont de Nemours and Company's DuPont as follows:

--Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'A';

--Senior unsecured debt at 'A"

--Bank credit facility at 'A';

--Short-term debt rating at 'F1'.

The ratings apply to approximately $7.5 billion of debt. The Outlook on the long-term ratings is Stable.

The affirmations reflect DuPont's improvement in all segments except the struggling Ag & Nutrition. Most segments have had year over year volume growth and modest increase in operating margins. Margin expansion in some segments has been hampered by volatile energy costs and raw material costs. Supporting the ratings are DuPont's leading market positions in several key areas, strong liquidity and easy access to capital markets. Even though the company's credit metrics have improved, they still remain weak for the rating category. Fitch also expects further improvement in revenues and net income in the 2007, provided that the U.S. economy does not stumble.

The Stable Rating Outlook reflects Fitch's expectations of improvement across several key growth platforms and DuPont's cost cutting initiative. Fitch expects DuPont's cash flow to continue to improve, barring any major change in business conditions. The chemicals sector is still showing strength and it's expected that DuPont will continue to show margin improvement as the company continues its cost control program. Despite the recent softening of energy and raw material costs, Fitch still remains concerned about the volatility of these costs.

DuPont's credit statistics improved during the 12-months ending Sept. 30, 2006 due to substantial improvement in Operating EBITDA and modest debt reduction, with Operating EBITDA-to-interest incurred of 7.95 times (x), and debt-to-EBITDA of 2.07x at Sept. 30, 2006. Balance sheet debt was approximately $7.5 billion as of Dec. 31, 2006. DuPont has a cash balance of $1.9 billion including marketable securities at December 31, 2006, and excellent liquidity with unused and committed credit facilities with various U.S. and foreign banks. Fitch anticipates that the cash balance will decline with the repayment of debt in 2007. Fitch expects DuPont's cash flow to continue to be stressed in 2007 as they complete the stock repurchase program.

DuPont is the second largest chemical company in North America, with leading market share in a number of specialty chemical segments. The United States accounts for 42% of sales, Europe 29%, Asia Pacific 17% and Canada & Latin America accounts for 12%. Chemical operations are highly integrated resulting in cost advantages across the business cycle. Business segments are agriculture & nutrition, coatings & color technologies, electronic & communication technologies, performance materials and safety & protection. In 2006, DuPont had $27.42 billion in consolidated net sales and $3.33 billion in Pretax Operating Income.

Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use of such ratings are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site.